Sketches of the past and present condition of the Indians of Canada [microform]

SKETCHES

THE PAST AND PRESENT CONDITION

TEE INDIANS OF CANADA,

By GEORGE M. DAWSON, D.S.,
Assoc, . BR. S.M.,-F.G,S.

Assistant Director Geol. Survey of Canada.

nineteen
ae,

aapienvsemauian diimaapnpnate manpage iain tpemammitataiet aint lis aticenlaeliiinapiratevtdingie imneighiiateaiiatiatiin amas

ee eT ae a TE Se SE ee ne ee

SN a I PN ae eS ae

puflrrat

(Reprinted from Canadian Naturalist, Vol. IX. No. 3.)

SKETCHES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
CONDITION OF THE INDIANS OF CANADA.

By Grorce M, Dawson, D.S., Assoc, R.S.M., F.G.S.

Tt is computed that the Indian population of the Dominion at
the present day numbers nearly 100,000, distributed as follows—
the figures being those of the last report of the Department of
the Interior :—Ontario, 15,666 ; Quebec, 10,917; Nova Scotia,
2,116; New Brunswick, 1,425; Manitoba and N. W. Territories,
27,308 - Athabasca District, 2,398 ; Rupert’s Land, 4,370;
British Wolumbia, 35,154; Prince Edward Island, 296,

Constituting thus nearly a fortieth part of the entire popula-
tion of Canada, the Indians would even numerically be a not
unimportant factor in questions of interior policy. As the
original possessors of the land, however, though possessing it in
a manner incompatible with the requirements of mode,n civiliza-
tion, and as having been at times ready to assert that ownership,
even in a forcible manner, they acquire quite a special interest ;
even without that afterglow of romance which follows the memory
of the red man in those regions from which he has already passed
away.

Though ir the ante-Columbian period of American history
nearly ull the Indian tribes and nations appear to have been
either drifting or graduaiy extending, by force of arms, in one
% direction or another, us indicated by their history or traditions,
their movements were neither so rapid nor erratic as those which
have occurred since the old organization and balance of power
began to crumble before the auvance of irresistible force from

7): é

, a }
oer ) Cie hae? gt mk
7] ¥ Ov ! |

OD eM aay PIS a

2

without. We may therefore trace, with some degree of definite-
ness, the extension of the greater Indian families as they existed
when first discovered, grouping together, for this purpose, many
tribes which, though speaking the same or cognate languages,
and with a general similarity in habits and modes of life, were
not infrequently at bitter enmity among themselves, and in some
cases had almost forgotten their original organic connection

In North-eastern America, the great Algonkin family was
numerically the most important, occupying a vast extent of coun-
try, from beyond the western end of Lake Superior, along its
northern shores, to the region of the Ottawa—which appears to
have been the original focus of this group of Indians—filling the
great wilderness between the St. Lawrence River and Gulf and
the southern part of Hudson’s Bay, occupying New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and the present New Mngland States, and stretching
even further southward, to the confines of Florida,

There appear to have been first seven tribal divisions, which
are said to have numbered each from 3,000 to 6,000 warriors,
and are those referred to collectively by the Jesuits, who had
comparatively little knowledge of the tribal intricacies of this
part of the continent, as ces grands bourgs des Naragenses. Many
of the names of these tribes and of their smaller subdivisions are
still perpetuated in a more or less travesticd form in the names
of places; and in the history of the early days of the Mnelish
colonies some of them appear continually, In addition to these,
inhabiting Maine and New Hampshire, was the great Abenakis
tribe, afterwards of some importance in Canadian history, when
pressed northward by the disturbances incident to the establish-
ment of the English Colonies. Closely allied to these, were the
Malecetes and Miemaes of New Brunswick and Nova Seotia. To
the north of the Gulf and lower parv of the River St. Lawrence
were a number of roving tribes, afterwards known collectively as
the Montagnards; in the Ottawa region, the Algonkins proper,
and further to the north-west the Chippewas or Ojibways centred,
when first discovered, near the Sault Ste. Marie, whence the
name Sauteux applied to them by the French. These last were
pressing westward, waging incessant warfare with the Sionx, and
gradually dispossessing them of their hunting grounds about the
sources of the Mississippi.

South of the Algonkin territory was the great Troquois
nation, extending from the southern part of Lake Champlain to

mf
Bf

"ee hatte iiear rn naa

Pee

3

Lake Erie, and including the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas,
Oneidas and Mohawks, a fierce, intelligent, unscrupulous con-
federacy or league of tribes, estimated afterwards by La Hontan
at 70,000 in number, warring with neighbours and extending
their boundaries in every direction, their very name a terror
over half the northern part of the American coutinent, Allied
to these by blood and language, although at the dawn of history
at bitter enmity with them, were the Hurons, estimated at
30,000 to 40,000 in number, inhabiting the eastern border of
the great lake which now bears their name. The Neutral Nation
also inhabiting the peninsula of Upper Canada, and of the Iro-
quois stock, were, with the Eries, destroyed by the confederated
Troquois almost before their contact with the whites, and scarcely
figure in nistory.

Following the more fertile country of the valley of the St. Law-
rence, there appears to have been an outlying member of the
great Troquois-Huron family, holding the banks of the River
and present sites of Montreal und Quebee, while the Algonkins,
as we have already seen, peopled all the neighbouring regions.

Such were the main features in the distribution of the Indian
nations of the north-east portion of the Continent at the time
when they were about to be brought into contact with a stronger
external power, In regard te their internal eondition and
progress in the arts, notwithstanding the gloss with which time
may to some extent cover these aborigines, we cannot disguise
from ourselves that they were for the most part the veriest
savages, The northern Algonkins were found rarely, if ever,
cultivating the soil, even on the most limited scale; hunters,
fishermen, adding to their dietary such wild roots and berries as
the country happened to afford; living from hand to mouth,
with little providence even for the annually recurring season cf
cold ; probably then, as now among the more remote tribes, not

infrequently forced even to cannibalism during seasons of scarcity ;

wanderers, not as some of them afterwards became in the service
of the great fur companies, over immense areas of the Continent,
but each little tribe migrating, with the seasons, in its accus-
tomed district, from the lake abounding in trout or white fish,
to the region frequented by deer, or the rocky hills and islands
where berries ripened most ubundantly ; battling, with scanty
means, against the heat of simmer and the winter's cold, and
not usually living with any sense either of security in life or in

4

the possession of their meagre belongings; often at war, even
among themselves, and their very slumbers haunted with an
ever present shadow of dread ; yet, withal, knowing no better
state to envy, dimly looking forward to some distant future
perfection, rudely imagined, in the ‘“ Happy hunting grounds ” ;
regarding their own exploits in defence or , caliation—which
had not yet paled before the greater “ medicine ” of the whites—
as the highest expression of good.

The Iroquois, the Hurons and their congeners had raised
themselves a little higher in the scale, adding to the uncertain
pursuit of the chase the surer product of the field: they
sometimes cultivated the ground, it would appear, on a pretty
extensive gcale, preserved their corn in granaries, und lived
in permanent walled villages, situated with reference to the
fertility of the soil, The Hurons alone, inhabiting in this way
the shores of Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, were, as we have
already seen, estimated by Father Sagard at between 30,000 and
40,000 souls. Pictures of the same mode of life are found in
the account of the Canadian expedition of the winter of 1646
against the Mohawks, to the south of Lake Champlain, and in
Cartier’s quaint and simple narrative of his first visit to Hoche-
laga (now the city of Montreal), which he says was surrounded
with “goodly and large cultivated fields, full of such corn as the
country yieldeth. It is even as the millet of Brazil, as great
and somewhat bigger than smal] peason, wherewith they live
even as we do with our wheat.” The Iroquois, though thus more
advanced, were in customs and modes of thought e-sentially one
with the other Indians, and used their greater resources as a
means of waging more savage and effectual war. They were
a scourge to the surrounding nations, and more especially hostile
to their relatives the Hurons, the Iroquets—as the Indians
found by Cartier inhabiting the banks of the St. Lawrence were
afterwards called—and the whole race of the Algonkins. These
peoples found themselves, at the time of the arrival of the Kuro-
peans, cruelly oppressed by the wars of the Iroquois, scarcely
able to hold their own, and would, in the natural course of events,
have been absorbed or destroyed by them, or gradually forced to
retreat into the hyperborean region. The French, with whom
we have more particularly to deal, like the Spaniards, constantly
used the christianization and civilization of the natives as a
powerful argument in favour of’ their exploring enterprises, and

eek Bei ied

#
a

,

lhe

sta Aa

5

really attempted to carry out their professions. In the early
history of Canada we continually find the priest in advance of
the explorer and the trader; and, though it is hinted that in
somv cases the traffic in peltries occupied part of the attention of
the missionary, we seldom find them lending the Divine sanction
to unprovoked violence or robbery.

The intercourse of the Europeans and Indians of the north-
eastern portion of America can scarcely be said to ha ¢ been
begun by Cabot in his voyages of 1497-98-99, when he first
discovered this part of the coast. With Cartier, in 1534 and
1535, in his memorable voyages up the St. Lawrence, the first
real contact occurred, The natives appear to have reecived him
often timidly, but were found ready enough to trade when friend-
ship had been cautiously established. At the villages of Stada-
cona (Quebec) and Hochelaga he was received even with rejoicing,
the natives bringing gifts of fish, corn and “ great gourds,” which
they threw into his boat in token of welcome. It is evident,
however, that they well understood and wished to maintain their
territorial rights, for we find that when Cartier, in his first
voyage, set up in the vicinity of the Baie des Chaleurs his © cross
thirty feet high,” the aged chief of the region objected to the
proceeding, telling the French—as well as his language could be
understood—that the country all belonged to him, and that only
with his permission could they rightly erect the cross there. It
was too, when, in 1541, Cartier attempted his abortive colony
at Quebee, that the natives first manifested jealousy and a hostile
spirit.

Much later, in 1607, when the permanent occupation of the
country was begun by Champlain at Quebec, the erection of a
fort sufficiently strong first received the attention of the colonists :
showing that they did not place a too implicit confidence in the
continued friendliness of the Indians toward their enterprise.
The French would indeed have found the foundation of their
colony a difficult matter, but for the state of the Indian tribes
at the time of their arrival. The Iroquets of the St. Lawrence
valley had, since the date of Carticr’s second voyage, been exter-
minated, probably by the Hurons, and the Algonkin nations
were in a state of chronic war with the too powerful Troquois.
Champlain, adopting the only policy open to him, the traditional
one of intruders, allied himself, offensively and defensively, with
his neighbours the Algonkins, thereby perpetuating the warfare

6

between these peoples, and initiating the long series of conflicts
detailed in the early history of the colony, which were only
stopped for a time by the peace of Montreal, in 1701, when
representatives of tribes, from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the
Mississippi, to the number of 1,300 chiefs and deputies are said
to have heen present.

Time will not permit us, however, to trace the fortunes of the
aborigines through the long period of colonial history, during
which the Iroquois, allied to the English, and the Algonkins,
supported and encouraged in war by the French, occupied
a position, as, they said, between the blades of the scissors,
in which their number and importance were continually diminish-
ing. The history of the Indians in this period, is besides., so
much that of Canada aad New England that, though capable of
treatment from our standpoint, it is too well known to need
recapitulation here.

It has at times been affirmed that the English government did
not extinguish the Indian title in Canada proper, when it took
possession of the country, This is not however, strictly speaking,
the case ; for in the proclamation of George LIT, in 1763, conse-
quent on the treaty of that date, by which Canada became finally
British, the following passage, relating to the Indians, occurs :

“ And we do further declare it to be our royal will and pleasure,
for the present, as aforesaid, to reserve under our sovereignty,
protection and dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all tk
lands and territories not included within the limits granted to
the Hudson’s Bay Company; as also the lands and territories
lying Westward of the sources of the rivers which fall iato the
sea, from the west and north-west, as afore said. Aid we do
hereby strictly forbid, on pain of our displeasure, all our loving
subjects from making any purchases or settlements whatever, or
taking possession of the lands above reserved, without our special
leave and licence, for that purpose.”’

Different commissions of enquiry into the condition of the
Canadian Indians have since been issued from time to time, and
of which those of 1847 and 1856 were probably the most im-
portant. In reference to the Indian title, the commissioners of
1847 thus state their views: * “ Although the Crown claims
the territorial estate and eminent dominion in QOanada, as in
other of the older colonies, it has. ever since its possession of the

* Quoted by Hind, Canadian Exploring Expedition,

7

Province, conceded to the Indians the right of occupying their
old hunting grounds, and their claim to compensation for its sur-
render, reserving to itself the exclusive privilege of’ treating with
them for the surrender or purchase of any portions of the land,
This is distinetly laid down in the proclamation of 1763, and the
principle has since been gener: acknowledged, and rarely in-
fringed upon by the Governme | I'hese statements are interest-
ing in connection with the difficuity—referred to further on—as
to Indian title in British Columbia. In carrying out this
policy, we find the Government paying sums of money to certain
tribes, and ‘providing them with annuities as their lands become
desirable for settlement. The elie thus made, though often
apparently large, were always small in proporton to the extent
of territory ceded. The country, ns instance, north of Lakes
Superior and Huron remained in possession of the Ojibways till
1850, when the whole of this vast region, at least equal in extent
to England, and inhabited by between 2,000 and 3,000 Indians
was surrendered to the Canadian Government for $16,640 paid
down, and $4,400 in perpetual annuity. On this, the Commis.
sioners remark; “If we considered that it came properly within
our province, wo should not hesitate to express our decided
regret that a treaty, shackled by such stipulations, whereby a
vast extent of country has been wrung from the Indians for a
comparatively nominal sum, should have received the sanction
of the Government.” In a table prepared under the same com-
mission is the following summary of areas of land given up, at
different times, by the Indians of Canada, with the price paid to
them per acre:
Ojibways, Zhd. per acre..........sscscsceese 7,3 373,000
$s ee TS Hdteveere GO, 400,000
Ott: was, Pottawatamies, Chippewas nd
Hurons, =8,d. per acre........sseee08 seeee 2,001,078
Delawares, 2s.
Saugeen Indians, 34d. per aere....... veeeee 1,500,000
Ojibways of Lake Superior, as already

given, Acreage not known.

Average rate per acre about 14d.

In view of such facts, we may well ask upon w:.at principle
they have been remunerated for their lands; certainly not by
any standard either of their absolute or relative value, rather

8

by that of the relative ignorance of the various tribes at the
time they were treated with, and the urgency of their then
present wants. Looked at from this point of view, the transaction
loses altogether the aspect of an equitable purchase. It must
be evident that the Government, in such arrangements, does not
fully acknowledge the Indian title, the “territorial estate and
eminent dominion” being vested in the crown, and the claim of
the Indians restricted practically—though not patently in the
transactions as effected with the Indians—to right of compensa-
tion for the occupancy of their hunting grounds,

It is very difficult to arrive at any certain conclusion regarding
the original number of the Indian population of this part of the
Continent. The New England tribes are, as we have seen, said
by some authorities to have each possessed several thousand war-
riors. The Iroquois were estimated by La Hontan at 70,000,
and the Hurons, at an earlicr date, at from 30 to 40,000. Gar-
neau, on the contrary, gives, as the result of careful calculation,
numbers very much smaller, and supports them by remarks on
the exaggerated estimates of the notions formed by some travellers.
He allows, for instance, to the whole Algonquin race 90,000
only, and to the Hurons and Iroquois together 17,000. Though
the first estimates may be too great, these almost certainly err on
the other side.

In the four eastern provinces of the Dominion, Ontario, Que-
bee, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Kdward Island,
there are at the present day about 30,000 Indians, the remnant
of the former numerous population. A considerable number of
Indians in Quebec, and north of the settled districts, in the
northern and north-western part of Ontario, still remain in a con-
dition little, if at all, superior to that of their ante-Columbian
ancestors. Their lands, unsuited for agriculture, are not coveted
by the whites. They have only the advantage of a certain immu-
nity from pillage and war, and of being able to procure from the
Hudson Bay Company and other traders such articles of Kuro-
pean manufacture as they may be able to afford. After describ-
ing the condition of these wild western tribes, Dr. Wilson, in the
last edition of his “ Prehistoric Man,” writes of them: ‘It is
not a little strange to find such pagan rites perpetuated among
nomeds still wandering around the outskirts of settlements occu-
pied by descendants of colonists, who, upwards of three centuries
ago, transplanted to the shores of the St. Lawrence the arts and

9

laws of the most civilized nation of Europe. The regions thus
occupied by savage tribes are annually coasted by richly laden
merchant fleets of Britain; and the ocean steamers have now
brought within a few day's sail of Europe the outcast descen-
dants of the aboriginal owners of the soil. But they experience
no benefit from the change. The Mistassins and Naskapees
exhibit all the characteristics and some of the most forbidding

traits of the Indian savage. They are clothed in furs and deer-
skins ; their only weapons are the bow and arrow, and they
depend wholly on the bow and drill for procuring fire.”

With by far the greater part of the Indian population, however,
this state has long been of the past. In all the provinces, save
Prince Edward Island, the Indians hold reserves from the Crown,
On that Island, the lands they inhabit were obtained for them b,
the Aborigines’ Protection Society and the liberality of private
individuals. The Indians are considered wards of the Crown,

and are in a state of pupilage, not possessing the right to dispose
of or in any way alienate their lands, which are administered for
them by a department of the Government. The funds available
for Indian purposes, schools, missions, annuities, ete., are partly
tribal, being derived from the sale or lease of Indian lands,
partly general, by direct grant, or interest on the Indian fund
held in trust by the Government. This fund, in the provinces
of Ontario and Quebec, in 137%, amounted to over $2,900,000 ;
tho total revenue available for distribution being over $240,000.
The sources of tribal funds are more fully specified as follows :
Collections on account of lands solid, timber dues, stone dues ;
bonuses paid for the privilege of working timber limits on Indian
reserves ; rents collected from occupiers of Indian lands under
lease ; and smaller sums from licence fees, trespass dues, and a
moiety of fines collected from persons convicted of having sold
liquor to Indians.

In these older provinces, most of the Indians have made con-
siderable material progress, and in some cases show a satisfactory
desire to accumulate property and cultivate the land, By the
last report of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, we learn that
the total number of Indians settled on reserves is 22,809. The
total number of acres under cultivation is 60,501 ; houses owned,
4,347, besides barns and stables; horses, 2,741; cows, 2,360,
besides other animals, ploughs, harrows, waggons, fanning mills
acd many other agricultural implements. It is, however, un-

10

pleasant to note the complaints of the superintendent that the
schools are very generally poorly appreciated ; only a small pro-
portion of the children atiending with any regularity.

The remnants of some of the Indian tribes oi’ this part of the
Dominion have now drifted far from their original localities.
Of the Iroquois, a portion converted by the French—who estab-
lished missions among them in 1657—separated themselves from
their native cantons to the south of Lake Ontario, and settled
on lands provided for them on the banks of the St. Lawrence, at
Caughnawaga, St. Régis, and the Lake of Two Mountuins,
Their number at the present time (including some Algonkins
living with the Iroquois at the last named place) is 2,964. The
greater part of the [roquois nation—allies, as we have seen, of
the English against the French in early colonial dauys—were
loyal to the Crown during the revolutionary war, and on the
estublishment of the United States many of them migrated to
Ontario, under their great chief Joseph Brandt, 1785. They
were accorded a reserve of about 1200 square miles, of which
they now possess oply a small part. These refugees number, at
the present day 4,495, and are living on the Grand River, Bay

of Quinté, and River Thames. Another considerable band of

the Iroquois, chiefly composed of Indians of the Seneca tribe,
still inhabit a portion of their original territory in the State of
New York, possess a reserve of 66,000 acres, and are good and
prosperous farmers. Another party, early in this century settled
in Ohio, but were afterward removed to the Indian Territory to
the south, and are now stated to number 240. One more small
detachment, travelling westward in the service of the fur com-
panies, now frequent, or lately did so, the eastern base of the
Rocky Mountains, near the head-waters of the Saskatchewan.
The once powerful nation of Hurons or Wyandots, are now
reduced to a mere handful. In 1648, the Iroquois recommenced
their war against these people with unwonted fury, and during
1649 and ’50, they were finally beaten and as a nation destroyed.
After the attack of 1648 the remnants of the tribes found refuge
for a time among the neighbouring nations, but were shortly
afterwards again gathered togeiher, to perish, for the most part,
some by renewed attacks of their enemies, others by famine,
during the winter of 1649-50. The survivors, about 300 in
number, under the guidance of the missionaries who had been
labouring among them, migrated eastward, but were apparently

Revd

:
®
8

Re

y
a
ci
Bs

Zon Rr Sagat eM Rate Oa

q

11

pursued by misfortune. Many perished in attempting to cross
from their place of refuge on Isle Joseph to the mainland, others
were cut off by prowling Iroquois. The miserable remnant crept
through the wilderness of the upper Ottawa to Montreal, and
then to Quebec, where for years they inhabited the Isle of Or-
leans; but still from time to time harassed by their enemies,
moved into the city of Quebec itself, and on the conclusion of
peace, removed to Ste. Foye, and afterwards to Lorette, where
they now are, to the number of 295. A second small fraction of
the Hurons, centering for a time about Detroit, were accorded a
reserve ut Anderdon in Ontario, but during the present century,
have declined from 200 to 76 in number, Still another colony
became possessed of lands in Ohio, ceded these lands to the
United States, in 1832, and were removed to Kansas, where, in
1855, many became citizens, and the land being divided among
these, the remainder were again removed to the Indian Territory,
where they now number 258 souls. Such has been the fate of
these cultivators of corn and tobacco, the natives, of all others of
the northern part of the Continent, most nearly attaining a civi-
lized state.

The vicissitudes to which the Algonkins have been subjected
are not so great. Those who have come within the influence of
civilisation occupy a great number of small reserves and villages
scattered through Ontario and Quebee. ‘The Abenakis, the con-
stant allies of the French, leaving the northern part of New
England, now reside at St. Francis and Becancour, and have de-
creased from 1000, the number remaining in 1760, to 335.

If we had any satisfactory means of estimating the real amount
of [ndian blood represented by the peoples classed as Indians,
we would find the recognized remnant of the native race a much
smaller fraction than it appears in the census. Iu many of the
bands scarcely a pure-blooded Indian can be found, and in all
great admixture has oceurred. Of the Abenaquis Father Mar-
quette writes: “Our Indians are, with but very few exceptions,
métis, or half-breeds. Here I do not know one Abcnaquis of
pure blood: they are nearly all Canadian, German, Kngiish, or
Scotch half-breeds. The greater portion of them are as white
as Canadians, and the dark complexious we see with many are
owing in most cases to long voyages.” Tne Hurors of Lorette
can scarcely be distinguished as Indians. They have almost en-
tirely exchanged their native tongue for the French patois, and

SS a ee ee eee

ee,

NIA eee an tt

12

would probably long since have ceased to be distinct, but for
their claim to share in the distribution of certain tribal funds
administered by the Government, which have now ceased to be
of real benefit, and act instead as a deterrent to the complete
independence and self-reliance of the members of the community.
Similar statements might be made with regard to other tribes,
and many of the more advanced Indians begin to show a wish to
emancipate themselves from their state of pupilage. This they
are now enubled to do on easy terms by the Act of 1876.

The discovery of the great North-west, and contact of its Indian
tribes with the whit did not occur till long after that of the
older provinces of Canada; and our knowledge of the west coast
and British Columbia is almost an event of yesterday. The
famous journey of Joliet and Marquette to the Mississ vpi was
made in 1672, followed, ten years later, by that of La Salle. in
1727, a Canadian fur company had advanced trading posts to
Lake Pepin on the Mississippi; but we find Charlevoix writing
from Montreal, in 1721, with nothing more definite than the
vague rumours of the existence of the ‘ Lac des Assiniboils ”
and surrounding region now forming part of Manitoba. Not till
1731 was this country and the valley of the Red River of the
north, discovervd by Varennes de la Verandrye, accompanied in
his expedition | his sons, and a missionary Jesuit. By 1748,
the French, with the wonderful energy in discovery characteristic
of them at this time, had pushed their explorations far up the
valley of the Saskatchewan; and they had already crossed the
water-shed separating this valley from the Arctic basin, when Sir
Alexander Mackenzie, an officer of the North-west Fur Company
of Canada, in 1789, began his voyages of discovery in that
region. This intrepid traveller, in that year, traversed the en-
tire length of the river now bearing his name, reaching the
Frozen ocean, and, in 1793, only 85 years ago, was the first Eu-
ropean to set foot in the great interior of British Columbia.

The wide-stretching Algonkin family of Indians already des-
cribed as filling so large a part of North America, extended far
into the western country. The Sioux, touching, in the early his-
torical years, the west end of Luke Superior, were then being
dispossessed of these regions, and their hunting grounds about
the sources of the Mississippi, by the Algonkin Chippeways, who
before settlement began in the Red River valley, appear to have
usurped a part of that region, and the Lake of the Woods coun-

13

try, and made of them their western stronghold. With fish and
berries in abundance, and lake strung to lake, forming an amaz-
ingly complicated water communication through all the forest
country, the woodland Indian may here be seen to the greatest
advantage; and, as in the summer he lazily paddles his bark
cunoe from island to island, sets his nets in the narrows, or joins
in the harvesting of wild rice in the creeks and swamps of the
Jake margin, one may still almost imagine that his tenure is un-
disputed, and his life a realization of Hiawatha, But wister is
before him, and in the past are legends of fierce conflicis, and
massacres by the dreaded Sioux.

West of the Chippeways, but inosculating with them, and
spreading far up the valley of the Saskatchewan, were the Criste-
neaux or Crees, who speak a language only dialectically different
trom that of the Chippeways, but exhibit some ditterent traits,
being in great part Plain Indians. South of the Crees, and in-
habiting the river of the same name, where the Assineboines, a
tribe which separated from the Dakotas or Sioux, almost within
the limit of authentic history, and, like the parent stock, differed
much in physical characteristics, and altogether in language from
the Crees. Though thus the offspring of the Dulotus, they
were bitterly hostile to them, much as occurred further east with
the Iroquois. South and west of these, but scarcely stretching
far north of the forty-ninth parallel ia carly times, were the
various bands of the Sioux, or Nadouessioux of the early travellers,
the first name, by which they are now most commonly known,
being an abbreviation of the second, which is a Chippewa word,
meaning enemies, and was sometimes also applied by these people
to the Iroquois; the Sioux calling themselves Dukotas. Still
farther west were the different tribes of the Blackfoot confederacy,
roaming between the head-waters of the Missouri, the Rocky
Mountains and upper Saskatchewan.

The Indians thus classified according to race, were, however,
naturally divided, trom the earliest times, by the character of
their environment, into two great groups,—those of the plains
and those of the forests. The former, typically exhibited in the
Sioux. Assineboines, and Blackfeet, were and are physically and
mentally better developed than the latter. Their lives were more
uctive, and, with abundance of food in the innumerable herds
of buffalo which then covered the plains from the Red River to
the foot of the Rocky Mountains, while fierce, treacherous and

14

turbulent, they had leisure to develop some of the better quali-
ties often attributed to the American savage, and to invent
those curious mystic ceremonies appropriate to the seasons, which
among the Mandans of the upper Missouri, according to Catlin,
had assumed great complexity and an elaborate symbolism. The
plain Crees, or those inhabiting the northern margin of the prai-
ries, were not so warlike nor physically so well formed as their
southern neighbours, though, coming first in contact with the
whites, and supplying themselves with fire-arms, wien unknown
to the wilder tribes, they were for a time able completely to turn
the tables on their ancient enemies, and carried their conquests
far and wide. At the present day matters are again reversed,
for the Crees, still supplied by the Hudson Bay Company with
the venerable flint lock musket, meet the southern tribes who
trade on the Missouri, and are frequently able to afford to arm
themselves with the best breech-loaders. In this region, one may
see in a single tribe every.stage in perfection of arms exemplified,
from the bow with arrows tipped with hoop iron to the Win-
chester-Henry repeating rifle. It is worthy of note, in this con-
nection, that while the Indians may be much more formidable
with improved rifles, I have heard them complain that they are
really more at the mercy of the whites, for, on the outbreak of
hostilities, measures are taken to prevent them from obtaining
suitable cartridges, which they are, of course, utterly unable to
mike for themselves. The woodland or thick-wood Crees much

‘resemble in habits and appearance the other western tribes of the

Algonkins,

North of all these, is still another entirely distinct family of
Indians, the Tinneh, Athabascans, or Chipewyans. These in-
habitants of the true “* Wild North Land,” are divided into many
tribes and sets, speaking dialects more or less diverse. From
Churchill and the western shores of Hudson Bay they stretch
northward to the Esquimaux of the Arctic coast, people the
valley of the Mackenzie, the great almost unknown interior of
Alaska, and southward in the interior region of British Columbia
as far as the Chilcotin River. Remnants of the same people are
found scattered among other tribes far to the south, giving rise
to interesting questions as to their pre-historic distribution; but
the region still entirely occupied by them in the north is truly
vast, being not less than 4,000 miles in extent from south-east to
north-west. Within their domain are the Barren Grounds,

q

15

traversed and described by Sir John Richardson, Franklin and
Back, a picture of bleak desolation, yet in their grassy savannahs
supporting cariboo and other game enough to maintain the
wandering bands of natives. They are as yet the undisputed
possessors of the great Peace River valley, in Mackenzie’s time
abounding in buffulo and elk, and destined, at no very distant
date, to form a wealthy province of the Dominion. North of
this, in the Athabasca- Mackenzie reg‘on they roam over a whole
continent of barrens, scrubby ferests, wide muskegs, and inoscu-
lating systems of lakes ; while in the northern interior of British
Columbia and Southern Alaska they own a veritable sea of moun-
tains.

Resembling the forestinhabiting tribes of the Algonkins in
many respects, they yet differ from them in some important
points. The name Tinneh or Dinne means simply the people,
ard in combination with some peculiar affix forms the distinctive
name of almost every tribal subdivision of the race. In thus
speaking of themselves as pre-eminently the people, they are not
peculiar, but follow the custom of many of the American tribes
of different family relationships. When discovered, the Tinneh
were constantly at war with all the surrounding nations, including
the Esquimaux, to the north, the Crees and southern Indians of
British Columbia, to the south, and were, besides, engaged in
intertribal wars within their own territory. They do not appear,
however, to be in general distinguished for bravery or success in
their warlike expeditions. Though scattered over so great an
area of country, they show a close general resemblance in customs
and disposition. They do not cultivate oratory to the same ex-
tent as the southern Indians, nor have they any regard for the
truth, though, curiously enough, remarkably honest, both among
themselves and towards strangers. They are, however, accom-
plished and persistent beggars. They already begin to cultivate
the ground to a small extent around some of the forts and mis-
sions in the southern part of their country, and though generally
lazy, when once embarked in a voyage or other enterprise, as a
rule, work well. They seldom indulge in a plurality of wives.

Omitting mention for the present of the remaining Indians of
British Columbia, such are the great divisions by race of the
nations of the North-west. The Hsquimaux, living along the
whole Arctic sea-board, are never likely to come in . onflict with
the whites, and, from the inhospitable nature of their’ country,

16

will always remain secure in the possession of their lands. Of
more practical importance, however, than this family grouping
is the division into Indians of the plains and those of the forests
and northern country, as already pointed out. The tide of settle-
ment has already begun to flow, which in a few short years will
cover the portion of the Grest Lone Land inhabited by the
prairie tribes, with farmers and stosk-raisers; and it is in dis-
pusing equitably and amicubly of the claims of the plain Indians,
and in providing fo. their honest and peaceful support when the
buffalo, their present means of livelihood, shall have passed away,
that Canada wi'l find her greatest Indian problem. In contrast-
ing the Indian policy of the United States and Canada, it is
unquestionable that the latter has generally shown consideration
and friendliness toward these people; while the former, with few
exceptions, has practical/y pursued a method harsh and ageres-
sive; but it is often forgotten that the circumstances of the two
countries for many years past have been very different. In
the Western States the uncompromising edge of the advancing
tice of immigration has been creeping across the plains—con-
stant broils, cutrages and reprisals characterizing its spread. In
Canada we are only about to enter on this phase, and in no way
but by great forbearance and tact can similar—though probably
not so great—trouble be averted.

In 1812 Lord Selkirk founded his colony on the Red River,
having acquired from the Hudson Bay Company in the previous
year a grant of land for colonization ; but, like the government
of the Dominion at a later date, finding that he had afterward to
arrange with the Indians for their right of ownership. In 1817,
several chiefs agreed to give to the King, for the use of the Karl
of Selkirk, a tract of land bordering the Red and Assineboine
Rivers, as far back on each side as a horse could be seen under
(i. e, easily distinguished) ; bat we find that it was afterwards
made a subject of complaint by the Indians, that they never
received for the land more than a first payment, which they con-
sidered as preliminary to a final bargain. The quit-rent was
understood to be 100 pounds of tobacco, paid annually to the
chiefs.

Selkirk’s colonists, entering the co.avry by way of Hudson
Bay and the Nelson River, were chiefly nen from the northern
islands of Scotland, and there mingling -with French-Canadians—
old voyageurs of the fur Companies—soon, like these people,

Pa ai er Bis

17

took to themselves Indian wives, usually from among the Crees,
Thus arose the Metis or half-breed population of the Red River,
for « long time hunters rather than farmers, and as yet—especially
the French half-breeds--in too many cases making but a half-
hearted attempt at the cultivation of the soil, Yearly expeditions
on a great :vale—of which we have all read—were made by
these people against the buffalo, in early days abounding in the
Red River valley itself. Gradually, however, under the attacks
of the people, the increasing demand for robes iv al! quarters, and
the quantity of pemmican required by the Hudson Bay Com-
pany for the supply of their posts, the great northern herds of
buffalo were thinned, and year by year the Red River hunters
had to travel ferther in search of their game. At last the con-
nection between the Peace River herds and those to the south
was broken along the line of the Saskatchewan, and the former
all but annihilated ; and at the present day a wide belt of coun-
try near and south of the Missouri, separates the buffalo stil!
remaining in the South-Western States from those of the north,
which are congregated in a limited area near the foot of the
Rocky Mountains in the British possessions, and surrounded by
a cordon of hungry savages. With this change, a great altera-
tion in the position of the various Indian tribes has occurred.
The Assineboines and plain Crees have followed the retreating
herds to the south and west, while the thick-wood Indians, for-
merly confined to their forests by the pressure of these tribes,.
have issued on the plains; and natives from the vicinity of the
Red River and great lakes of Manitoba may now be found even.
to the Coteau of the Missouri. The remaining buffalo at the:
present time inhabit a portion of the territory of the Blackfeet ;
but those Indians do not, now, in the absence of valuable game,
try to maintain their former extensive boundaries, and are
hemmed in by their hereditary enemies the Sioux and Assine-
boines to the east, and Crees to the north. In 1874 I meta
large camp of Cree Indians on the Milk River at the 49th
parallel, a point farther south than I know them to have attained
before. In this year, basing my estimate on the information
obtainable in the country itself, I ventured to state that the
northern herd of buffalo could scarcely maintain its existence as
such for longer than twelve or fourteen years, and that at or
before that date the trade in pemmican and robes would cease to
be of importance. Ubless the regulations adopted by the North-

B

18

west Council are very strictly enforced, aud possibly even in spite
of this check, the buffalo must become pratically extinct within
a very few years. In view of these facts, measures cannot too
soon be taken to render the plain tribes self supporting, on some
other basis than that afforded by the chase of the buffalo. Their
wandering habits unsuit them for agricultural pursuits; but
some of them already possess considerable numbers of horses,
and, by encouraging them in stock-raising, and especially in the
introduction among them of cattle, from which, under proper
regulations, they might derive a great part of their food, a
solution of the problem might be found. ‘This, at least, is the
only easy transition from their present condition as hunters to a
more civilized state; and if this can not be made to succeed,
they will for the most part, and at no distant date, be thrown as
paupers on the State.

The Indians of Manitoba and the North-west Territory, in the
Report of the Minister of the Interior for 1877, are stated to
number about 27,308 ; to which must be added about 1,500
Sioux, refugees from the south, implicated in the Minnesota mas-
sacre of 1862; also, for the Athabasca District and Rupert’s
Land, 6,768 (probably an under-estimate) ; and now, it would
appear Sitting Bull and his compatriots, who, though Sioux, do
not represent any particular tribe of that nation, but the dis-
affected and outlawed members from many bands, Since the
acquisition of this territory by the Dominion, seven treaties have
been concluded with the Indians, by which, collectively, nearly
all the land likely to be given for permanent settlement has been
ceded. The last of these was that with the Blackfeet, covering
an area of some 35,000 square miles in the south-western corner
of the territory, inhabited now by about 5,000 Indians; this
nation having been reduced by about one-half during the last
twelve or fifteen years by bad whisky, murders, and small-pox.

The general principles on which these treaties have been
framed are:—-The entire surrender of the territory, a reserve
being provided for the Indians, and it being understood that
they may continue to hunt and fish as before, without restriction
as long as the lands are unoccupied ; the establishment and
maintenance of schools; the payment of an annuity of a few
dollars to members of the tribe, a census being taken in the first
instance; the yearly distribution of ammunition, twine for nets,
etc., to a stated amount; and the presentation of agricultural

19

implements, cattle, etc., once for all, to bands settling down to
farm; also the payment of a salary to the chiefs and their head-
men; and the presentation of medals, flags, and a bonus in
money on the conclusion of the treaty. No one who has not had
some experience in dealing with Indians can realize how great
the difficulty in concluding such arrangements with them is:
how much talking and iteration is required, aud how long they
take to deliberate and discuss among themselves the propositions
as they understand them; the most trivial point occasionally ap-
pearing, for some incomprehensible reason, to assume the greatest
importance.

The half-breeds of the Red River have already been alluded
to, and nowhere on the North American Continent is the result
of the mingling of the European and native races so clearly seen
as in our North-West Territory. In what is now the province
of Manitoba, a separate race of Metis has grown up since the
date of Lord Selkirk’s colonization, and these people, holding
themselves to some extent aloof from the whites and Indians, are
recognized in the terms of confederation of that province, and
granted large tracts of land as reserves for themselves and their
children. At che erection of the province, the half-br:-eds num-
bered, according to the census, 9,770; but this, according to
Prof. Wilso., was afterwards found to be an underestimate.
While some of these people are scarcely distinguishable from
Kuropeans, others are to all intents and purposes Indians, and it
is curious to find in the report of the payment to Indians under
Treaty No. 4, that great difficulty was experienced from the
number of half-breeds ordinarily recognized as such, who desired
to be included with the Indians and draw annuities. In this
connection, Mr. G. W. Dickenson remarks: ‘“ The question as to
who is, and who is not Indian, is a difficult one to decide: many
whose forefathers were whites, follow the customs and habits of
the Indians, and have always been recognized as such. The
chiefs Céte, George Gordon, and others, and likewise a large
proportion of their bands, belong to this class. A second class
has little to distinguish it from the former, but has not alto-
gether followed the ways of the Indians. A third class, again,
has followed the ways of the whites, and has never been recog-
nized or accounted among themselves as anything but half-breed.”

When the buffalo retreated so far in the west that it became
inconvenient to carry on the hunt from the Red River, a portion

20

of the half-breeds to a great extent relinquished this mo'e of
subsistence ; while others, among whom those speaking French
are in the majority, continued to follow these animals,- —selecting
wintering places fur out on the plains, and returning to the
settlements only occasionally, with the products of the chase,
These hunting half-breeds fortiu—or formed a very short time
ago—a body partaking of the character of a tribe among the
Indians. They are gencrally accompanied by a priest, who, in
concert with some of the older men, frames rules for the guidance
of the camp, administers those which have already become fixed
by use in the community, and decides the camping places and
dates of movement ot the camp, in conformity with public
opinion. In the far west these people seem generally to have
allied themselves with the Sioux against the Blackfeet, but gave
to their allies only so much material assistance as to ensure the
continuance of their useful friendship, In July, 1874, I came
upon the “ Big Camp”’ of half-breeds near the Milk River. It
consisted of over two hundred tents of dressed skins, or canvas,
Every family possessed Red River carts at least in equal number
to that of its members., These, with the tents, are arranged in
a circular form, on camping, to muke a correl or enclosed space
for the protection of the horses. It was stated that about 2,000
of these animals were owned by the half-breeds of the Camp.
The Indians, as a whole, are jealous of the half-breed hunters,
understanding well that their business-like manner of pursuing
the buffalo for robes, not only drives these animals from their
feeding grounds, but aids largely in their extermination. The
late ordinance of the North-West Council, above referred to, will
probably, by the restrictions it imposes, break up this half breed
tribe and drive its members to other pursuits, It is certain that
the Metis, as a whole, will continue to approximate more com-
pletely to the whites both in appearance and manners. Physically
they are robust, and possess great power of endurance, though
not infrequently liable to pulmonary complaints.

In British Columbia, where, in the absence of a trustworthy
census, the native races are roughly estimated at 30,000, Canada
has her latest, and, what appeared, for a time, likely to be her
most vexatious “Indian Problem.’’ Races of the Tinné stock
inhabit, as we have already seen, the whole northern interior of
that country, extending, southward, to the Chilcotin River in
latitude 52°. Bordering these on the south, and occupying

21

, | of the province, are Indians belonging to the Shuswap or
Setish connection, divided into many tribes, bearing different
names, but all allied in language, the differences between the
dialects being generally not so great as to prevent intercommuni-
cation. In a region physically isola’ d, in the extreme south-
east, are the Kooteney Indians, who appear to differ from all the
rest, and are perhaps more closely allied to the Indians of the
interior plains, whither they resort, at certain seasons, for the
purpose of hunting the buffalo. Along the coast, and on the
outlying islands, are scattered a great number of tribes dittering
more or less, and in former years frequently hostile one to
another. Into the race divisions of these it is not proposed to
enter, nor indeed is it possible as yet to speak very certainly on
this question. In customs, moder of life and thought, there is
complete diversity between the coast Indians and those of the
interior, which practically transcends the race divisions, being
like to in kind, but even greater in degree, than that existing
between the plain Indians and those of the woods, in the interior
of the continent.

In the northern interior of British Columbia, the Indians, in-
habiting a country for the most part thicklv wooded, still remain,
as they have always been, hunters and fishers; but in many
places they now also cultivate small garden patches, producing
potatoes, turuips and such other vegetables as require little
attention. or their winter supply of food they generally depend
chiefly on fish, which is dried and cured during the summer,
On al) the tributaries of the Fraser, salmon is taken, in some
years abundantly. Those tribes nearer the coast, have generally
succeeded in maintaining against the coast Indians, the control
of some part of the various shorter rivers on which salmon can
be caught. Thither they make an annual migration, which they
look upon as a sort of holiday-making, revelling during the
season in abundance of fresh fish, and on their return carrying
back with them supplies for the cold months. They still trade
with the coast tribes to some extent, obtuining fish oil and Euro-
pean goods for furs; and this interchange, continuing since time
immemorial, has resulted in the formation of well-beaten trails,
of which the Bella Coola trail, and the so-called Grease Trail (over
which, in the far north, oolican oil is packed up from the sea-
board) are best known. In the last century, when direct Euro-
pean trade was carried on only along the coast, these interior

EE SE

22

Indians were obliged to satisfy all their needs for manufactured
articles through the intermediation of ¢+- coast tribes. This
intercourse led to the general aiffusion of the remarkable Chinook
jargon, which can only be referred to here. In the more remote
parts of this northern country, the natives have changed very
little since its first discovery. In 1793, Sir Alexander Mackenzie
accompanied a party of them, as they travelled toward their
fishery on the Dean or Salmon River. In June, 1876, I jour-
neyed for a couple of days with a simiiar party going to the same
traditional locality for the same purpose, and, with scarcely a
word of alteration, Mackenzie’s description might have been ap-
plied. Every man, woman and child carried a “pack” of size
in proportion to their strength, many of the women being, in
addition, encumbered with infants, and even the dogs having
strapped to their backs a proportion of the common burden of
camp equipage or traps. The larger articles and provisions
were usually packed in square boxes made of light wood, skil-
fully Sent rouad, and pegged together so neatly that, with the
addition of grease and dirt rubbed into the corners, they are
water-tight, and can be used for boiling fish, hot stones from the
fire being thrown in till the water is heated. Smaller loads are
carried in net-work bags made of raw hide, and slung, together
with a blanket, over the shoulders. All were in good humour,
and it was with the greatest difficulty I could persuade one to
leave his companions to guide me to the southward, where I
wished to go. They travelled at leisure, frequently resting for
an hour or so, the women attending to their children. the men
sleeping in the shade, or gambling with marked sticks, as Mac-
kenzie describes. :

In the southern part of the interior, the Indians have come
much more freely in contact with the whites, and though many
never saw a white face ti!l the gold excitement of .259 occurred,
they heve already advanced very materially. In the early days
of gold mining, labour was scarce and in great demand, and,
consequently, every Indian who could and would work was em-
ployed at high wages. From this, many of them became stock-
raisers to a small extent, river boatmen, and packers; while
others cultivated the soil, sometimes producing more than they
required for their own support. Such is their state at present,
and on them most of the white settlers rely for aid in tilling,
harvesting, and stock herding. While, however, the younger

23

men take readily to these pursuits, many of the older still prefer
to live as they did formerly, chiefly on the products of the
fishery and chase; and in districts where settlement has not yet
penetrated, whole bands still trust almost entirely to these, their
primitive means of support.

Along the coast, the natives are, and always have been, almost
exclusively fishermen. They hollow from the great cedar trees
graceful and sea-worthy canoes, in which they frequently make
long voyages, and formerly, in some cases, ventured far from
land in pursuit of the whale. Their villages are along the mar-
gin of the sea, on a coast generally rocky and rugged, with little
arable land. Thr, engage in the chase to a very limited extent,
aud seldom even venture far into the dense forests, of which
they appear often to entertain a superstitions dread, peopling
them in imagination with monstrous and fearful inhabitants,
Along many of the estuaries and harbours are long lines of sheli-
heaps, evidencing the indefinite antiquity of their feasting and
campine. At the present day, many of the coast Indians are
moderately industrious, working on farms, in the coal mines at
Nanaimo, or as sailors in small coasting schooners. In Mr. Dun.
can’s charge, at Metlakatla, in the north, is an example of a self-
supporting and comfortable community, the result of genuine
missionary labour.

Of all tle coast tribes, the Indians of the Queen Charlotte
Islands are proLably the most intelligent and competent. When
the earlier navigators visited this region, they were the sea-dogs
of the coast, and carried their piravical expeditions far and wide,
often engaging in fierce conflicts with the Ucultas, and other
tribes who attempted to bar their passage of the narrows at the
north end of Vancouver Island. Though, like most of the sea-
board tribes, in fea‘ res remarkably coarse, they are lighter in
complexion than the others, often so much so that a rosy colour
is discernible in their cheeks. Their superior attractions in this
respect have been unfortunate for them, as many of their women
resort to Victoria and other towns for the worst purposes, and,
owing to disease, they ©re rapidly diminishing. Their tribal
name is Haida, and they are remarkable above all the other
Indians of the Coast for the size and excellence of their wooden
houses, which are ornamented with huge sculptured posts, rising
like obelisks or n:inarets; and also for their great skill and taste
in carving in grotesque and complicated patierns all their imple-

24

ments and utensils. The style of this carving, on the one hand,
resembles that of China und Japan, and, on the other, that of
Mexico and Central America. The Haidas are dexterous and
successful fishermen.

Such is a brief sketch of the Indians of British Columbia ;
from which, however, it will be evident that, owing to the phy-
sically diversifi 7 character of the country, and correspondingly
diverse habits of the natives, they required at the hands of
the whites a quite special treatment. It was probably owing to
want of information that the Dominion government at first pro-
posed to apply, unmodified, to the whole area of the new province,
the traditional Canadian policy of granting extensive reserves to
the natives. This led to a long, and in some instances asrimo-
nious correspondence between the general and local governments;
and also to accusations by philanthropic societies, imputing in-
justice and indifference toward the natives to the old colonial
government. It may be interesting to go over, briefly, the chief
points raised in this controversy, which will also in some deer.2
serve to explain the anomalous condition of the British Colr 4
Indians in respect to material progress.

Many interesting facts bearing on the first contact of whites and
natives on the West Coast are to be found in the volumes of Meares,
Portlock and Dixon, Cook, Vancouver and other early explorers ;
and various arrangements and treaties were made in these early
times, which have long since, however, lost all force, and must
be omitted here. Among the official documents relating to more
recent times, we first find fourteen treaties concluded with the
natives by Mr., afterwards Sir James, Douglas, acting for the
Hudson Bay Company. These apply to Vancouver Island, chiefly
to its southern and south-eastern part, and are dated in 1850
and 1852, several years before the gold excitement of 1858-59.
A lump sum was paid on the conclusion of each treaty, which
was looked upon as a sale, under the following conditions, to
quote from one of them, viz:—‘ That our village sites and en-
closed fields are to be kept for our own use, for the use of our
children, and for those who may follow after us; and the land
shall be properly surveyed hereafter. It is understood, however,
that the Jard itself, with these small exceptions, becomes the en-
tire property of the white people for ever; it is also understood
that we are at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to
carry on our fisheries as formerly.”

25

In 1858 attention was prominently called to British Columbia,
owing to the discovery of gold, and the rush of miners from all
quarters, and, accordingly, we find next among the papers (dated
in July of that year) an extract from a despatch of Lord Lytton,
as Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Douglas, then appointed
Governor of the region, recommending kind treatment of the
natives, and ordering that in all cases of cession of land, subsis-
tence, in some form, should be granted to them. In September
-of the same year, there is a second despatch from Lytton, enclos-
ing a memorial from the Aborigines Protection Society, which
gives reasons for fearing that, the miners then flocking to the
country, the Indians would be harshly treated, and advising,

justly, that the native right to the soil should be recognized. In

venturing to point out means of satisfying the natives, however,
the Society makes various suggestions, some of which, to any one
acquainted with the circumstances of the country, look sufficiently
absurd. It is said, for instance :—‘ To accompiish the difficult
but nevessarr ‘ask of civilizing the Indians, and of making them
our trusty friends and allies, it would seem to be indispensable
to employ in the various departments of government a large pro-
portion of well selected men more or less of Indian blood (many
of whom could be found at the Red River)! who might not
only exert a greater moral influence over their race than we could
possibly do, but whose recognized position among the whites
should be some guarantee that the promised equality of races
should be realized.” Red River being in actual distance and in
manners as remote from Victoria as is St. Petersburg from Lon-
don, this part of the scheme is, to say the least of it, visionary.

Next follows some additional corresp ndence between Governor
Douglas and the Colonial Office in 1858-59, of a similar tenor,
in which both parties agree in the advisability of endeavouring
to locate the Indians in their villages, and render them self-sup-
porting. Douglas, however, instanced as specially to be avoided,
the method originally pursued by the Spanish Catholic mission-

aries to Culifornia, where the Indians, though fed, clothed, and

taught to labour, were kept in a state of dependence, not allowed
to think, act, or acquire property for themselves, and when sreed
from control were without self reliance, more helpless and degra-
ded than at first. Also, that since pursued toward the same
Indians by the American Congress, of supporting them at great

‘cost by the State, the natives nevertheless rapidly degenerating.

26

In March 1861, the House of Assembly of Vancouver Island
prepared a memorial, recapitulating the means adopted by the
Hudson Bay Company to extinguish the Indian title, stating
that the Indians of the Island have a strong sense of property in
land, and that regions then being settled still belonged to the
natives. It was feared that bad feeling would arise between the
races; but the Colony, being unable to raise £3,000, which
would be necessary to purchase the rights of the Indians, asked
the Home Government to advance this sum, which was afterwards
to be repaid by the sale of public lands. The Secretary of State
for the Colonies, however, though ready enough to offer good
advice, as we have seen, promptly answers this communication in
a curt note, stating that the affair being purely a colonial
matter, Her Majesty's Government could not undertake to supply
any money.

In a voluminous correspondence, from different sources, ex-
tending from 1861 up tu the date of the Confederation, it would
seem that the idea of recognizing the Indian title to the whole
mainland country never appears to have occurred to the authori-
ties; but that the method adopted was to ask the Indians of any
particular locality what plot of land they wished to possess, and
to make this reserve for them. It generally appears that all the
land asked for was given, and sometimes even more than requested,
the Governor indeed expressly directing that when a larger area
was requisite to the support of the Indians, it should at once be
allotted to them. In most cases the natives seem to have been
satisfied with this arrangement, though we discover that certain
priests, missionaries among them, were already advising the In-
dians to make larger claims for land. It is evident, in fact, that
at this time—to quote from a report by T. W. Trutch, as Chief
Commissionner of Lands and Works in 1867, which, though
referring specially to the lower part of the Fra.er, may be taken
as representing the state of affairs over the whole interior :—° The
subject of reserving land for the Indians does not appear to have
been dealt with on any established system during Sir James
Douglas’s administration. The rights of the Indians to hold
lands were totally undefined, and the whole matter seems to have
been kept in abeyance, although the land proclamations specially’
withheld from pre-emption all Indian reserves or settlements.
No reserves of lands specially for Indian purposes were made by
official notice in the Gazette, and those Indian reserves which.

27

were informally made, seem to have been so reserved in further-
ance of verbal instructions only from the Governor,” or even in
some cases were made over to the Indians on the ground by him
personally,

About this time, it was found that many reserves made in
this loose way, were seriously impeding settlement by biocking
access to valuable lands, and otherwise; and, moreover, that the
land locked up in reserves was freyuently far in excess of the
requirements of the aborigines. The authority by which many
of these reserves were made, was then disavowed by the govern-
ment, and, in a letter from the Colonial Seerctary (Nov. 1867),
the original intention of the Government is defined as having
been in all cases to grant the Indians lands cultivated by them,
and so much in addition as to bring the reserves up to about
ten acres per adult male: it being further stated ‘“ that reserves
that have been laid out of excessive extent should be reduced as
soon as practicable. The Indians have no right to any land
beyond what may be necessary for their actual requirements, and
all beyond this should be excluded from the boundaries of their
reserves. They can have no claim whatever to any of the land
thus excluded, for they really never have possessed it,—although,
perhaps, they may have been led to view such land as a portion
of their reserve. ‘The Indians appear in almost all cases to
have acquiesced quietly in the reduction, feeling compensated to
some extent by the greater definiteness given to their claims by

actual survey. They are reported in most instances to have

been “ well satisfied,” “satisfied,” or ‘“‘submissively satisfied.”’
The whole matter of Indian lands was thus in a very unsatisfac-
tory state to be handed over to the Dominion authorities at the
date of the admission of this province (1871), for even where
substantial justice had been done to the Indians, the records
were indefinite, or altogether wanting. On the appointment by
the Dominion of a Superintendent of Indian affairs, the misun-
derstanding which of late attracted special attention began, au
soon resulted in the accumulation of a great number of letters, if to
no more substantial issue. In the terms of union it was provided
that the General Government should assume control of the In-
dians, and, to quote, that ‘a policy as liberal as that hitherto
pursued by the British Columbia Government shall be continued
by the Dominion Government after the Union; ”’ further, that
tracts of lands, ‘‘such as it has hitherto been the practice of the

|
|
|
|
|

28

British Columbia Governmepvt to appropriate for that purpose,”’
shall be handed over to the Dominion in trust for reserves, ete.
These provisions, while apparently guaranteeing justice to the
Indians, really proved a bar to the well meant policy of the
Dominion. The land grants in British Columbia were by no
means on so liberal a scale as usual in the other provinces, and
were, further, very unequil, being in some cases only about five
acres to a family, while over the whole province the average was
not more than 6 to 10 acres. The Dominion Government wished
the size of reserves to be fixed at 80 acres per family. The
local government proposed 20 acres, which was accepted by the
Dominion for the coast, but for the interior—where white settlers
are allowed to pre-empt a double —— antity of land—it was wished
to increase this to 40 acres. The local government would not
accede to this, and it eventually appeared that they intended the
20 acre basis to apply only to new reservations, and not to lead
to the enlargement of those formerly made. Dissatisfaction and
agitation meanwhile arose among the Indians, who soon became
aware, to a more or less complete extent, of the state of affairs,
Certain missionaries get the credit of partly fomenting and
rather exaggerating the difficulty, with a view of bringing about
an arrangement suited to their own interests; but to what degree
this may be true I do not know.

In the end, after several propositions and counter-propositions,
an agreement was arrived at between the two governments, of
which the following is the substance :—

A commission of three is appointed, one member -by each of
the governments, the third jointly. This body shall enquire into
all matters connected with each band of Indians, and fix reserva-
tions, for which no standard size is given, cach nation being
dealt with separately, on an equitable and liberal basis. It is
also provided that, in accordance with the increase or decrease
of the number of Indians, the reserves miy from time to time be
enlarged or diminished in size.

This body has since been reduced to a single commissioner,
who is superintending the allotment of permanent reserves on an
equitable basis to the Indians of the province.

While, on comparing the Indian policy of the British Columbia
Government with the Canadian, where 80 acres may be taken as
the minimum size of reserve, the provision made for the Western
Indians appears slender, it will be seen from the sketch already

SEO ee oh

29

given of the habits of life of the Indians, and nature of the
country, that it was by no means without reason that the
British Columbia Government objected to the crude application
of the rule found to work well in the Kast, to the very different
and variously situated natives of the West Coast; that, while
reserves even on the 80 acre basis would be harely sufficient in
some parts of the interior, where large areas are required for
stock ranges, it would be useless and foolish to reserve great
tracts of arable land for the coast tribes, who are by nature
fishermen, and could under no circumstances be induced to cul-
tivate the soil on any but a very limited scale. The policy
obviously best for the natives of British Columbia, is to aid them
in following those paths which they have taken already ; to assist
the tribes of the interior to become successful stock-raisers and
farmers, by granting them suitable reserves and grazing privi-
leges; to encourage those of the coast in fishing and becoming
seamen, instructing them in improved modes of preserving their
fish, and of preparing it for sale to others. If the sites of
their villages and fishing stations are secure to them, they will
require little more in the way of rese-ves. To grant to each
family 80 acres of good land, it would be necessary to move
many tribes far fror. their traditional haunts, and to this they
would only submit under compulsion. In reviewing the state of
the natives of the West Coast, it would appear that, though in
many instances the British Columbia government seems to have
transgressed the limits of strict jrstice toward them, and has
departed from the precedent elsewhere established, in refusing to
acknowledge the right of the Indian to the soil; that he, thrown
more on his own resources, mingling among the whites with an
equality of rights before the law, and exempt from the inter-
ference which has elsewhere distinctly retarded the progress of
the savage towards civilization and independence, has worked
out in a measure his own temporal salvation, has passed the cri-
tical stage of first contact with the whites, and in many cases
bids fair, at no distant date, to form an important constituent of
the civilized population of the country, and this even before the
native has been largely mingled with foreign blood.

It is often said that the ultimate fate of the Red Man of North
America is absorption and extinction : just as European animals
introduced into Australia and other regions, frequently drive
those native of the country from their haunts, and may even

30

exterminate them, and as European wild plants accidentally im-
ported, have become the most sturdy and strong in our North
American pastures; so the Indian races seem to diminish and
melt away in contact with the civilization of Europe, developed
during centuries of conflict in which they have had no part, but
during which their history has moved in a smaller circle, ever
returning into itself. Even the diseases engendered in the pro-
cess of civilization, and looked upon in the Kastern hemisphere
with comparative indifference, become, when imparted to these
primitive peoples, the most deadly plagues. Dr. J. C. Nott (as
quoted by Prof. Wilson), writes: “Sixteen millions of aborigines
in North America have dwindled down to two millions since the
Mayflower discharged on Plymouth Rock; and their congeners
the Caribs have long been extinct in the West Indian Islands,
The mortal destiny of the whole American greup is already per-
ceived to be running out, like the sand in Time’s hour-glass,”
Dr. Wilson has, however, himself shown that though the Indian
as such can not very much longer survive, Indian blood in quan-
tity quite inappreciated by casual observers now courses through
the veins of white persons of the continent.

The ultimate object of all Indian legis:ation must be, while af-
fording all necessary protection and encouragement during the
dangerous period of first contact with the whites, to raise the
native eventually to the position of a citizen, requiring neither
special laws of restraint or favour. When it is found that the
paternal care of the State begins to act as a drag on the progress
of the Indian, and that after reaching a certa’ + stage all turther
advance ceases, the state of dependence must be done away with.
To render this change possible, and to effect it in cases where it
would already be advisable, the Dominion Act of 1876 was
framed. That this measure has not been adopted too soon
appears from the concurrent testimony of many interested in the
welfare of the Indian, and acquainted with the working of the
present system. In concluding, a few of the opinions expressed
on this subject may appropriately be given. The Rev. J. Ma-
rault (as quoted by Dr. Wilson), writes :—‘‘ Many suppose that
our Indians are intellectually weak and disqualified for business,
This is a great mistake. Certainly as far as the Abenakis are
concerned, they are all keen, subtle, and very intelligent. Let
them obtain complete freedom, and this impression will soon
disappear. Intercourse with the whites will develop their talent

31

for commerce. No doubt some of them would make an improper
use of their liberty, but they would be few in number. Every-
where, and in all countries men may be found weak, purposeless,
and unwilling to understand their own interests; but I can cer-
tify that the Abenakis gencrally are superior in intelligence to
the Canadians, I have remarked that nearly all those who have
left their native-village, to go to live elsewhere free, have profited
by the change.’ Dr. Wilson himself remarks (in another
place) :—‘ The system of protection and pupilage under which,
from the most generous motives, the Indian has hitherto been
placed in the older provinces, has unquestionably been protracted
until, in some cases at least, it has become prejudicial in its in-
fluence. It has precluded him from acquiring property, marry-
ing on equal terms with the intruding race, and so transferring
his offspring to the common ranks.” The Honorable Mr. Laird,
when Minister of the Interior, as the result of his enquiries in
connection with the Indian bill above referred to, speaks in the
following terms:—‘‘ Qu Indian legislation generally rests on
the principle that the aborigines are to be kept in a condition of
tutelage, and treated as wards or children of the State. The
soundness of the principle I cannot admit. On the contrary, I
am firmly persuaded that the true interests of the aborigines and
of the State alike require that every effort should be made to aid
the red man in lifting himself out of his condition of tutelage
and dependence, and that it is clearly our wisdom and our duty,
through education and every other means, to prepare him for a
higher civilization by encouraging him to assume the duties and
responsibilities of full citizenship.”

It is to be hoped that these enlightened views will be practi-
tically carried out in the case of all the tribes throughout the
Dominion; and that the Indian, freed from tutelage and raised
from dependence, may be induced to enter into such of the call-
ings of civilized life as may be most congenial to him, and may
thus become an element of strength and progress in the body
politic. He undoubtedly possesses qualities which fit him not
unequally to bear his part with the other races which enter into
the composition of our people, in building up the future great-
ness of the Dominion.